Writers, Read! My List of Good Books

As you know, I’m a strong advocate of writers reading a lot of good books, a lot. I’ve often been asked what my favorite books are. I have decided to devote this post to some of my recommendations, along with my editorial comments.

One caveat: this is by no means an exhaustive list. By next month I’ll probably have added to it, but that’s what it’s all about: reading lists should grow and be dynamic, just like you.

The classics

Just as modern dancers began with ballet and Elton John learned classical music first, you must build your reading and writing foundations with the classics in literature.

Yes, I know, they’re “boring.” (Not.) Trust me: reading for fun and edification is completely different from reading because Mrs. Johnson (name of my twelfth-grade English teacher) or some college professor made you read. And think of the Alzheimer’s prevention benefits.

If you can’t get into a book after fifty pages or so, set it aside and find another author to read. Here are a few authors I’d recommend (notice the inclination toward late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century British writers):

Dickens. Need I say more? My favorite: A Tale of Two Cities. Nothing beats it. The first paragraph alone is worth the price of the book. Great Expectations is another winner; in fact, it makes me want to use the cliché “achingly beautiful.” Sorry. In any case, get your hands on any of his books. Two other popular ones: David Copperfield and Oliver Twist.

Hardy. True confession: I am not a big Hardy fan, although I’ve read several of his books. Many people love him, and he definitely deserves to be on this list. Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the d’Urbervilles are the most well-known because they were turned into movies, but check out The Return of the Native, which is one of his best-known novels, and The Mayor of Casterbridge as well. If you are going to pull out all of your fingernails without anesthetic on Monday, and are going to jump off a roof on Wednesday, you might want to read Jude the Obscure on Tuesday.

Austen. I like Jane Austen. Some of her observations are hilarious, and you’ll find many of them, if quaint, right on target. I’ve read several of her books, and so far Mansfield Park is my favorite. However, she’s written so many other great novels: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and others. Take your pick and settle in for a treat.

The Bronte Sisters. Lots of talent in the Bronte family. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) is one of my favorite books; I’ve read it many times. Emily Bronte’s only book is Wuthering Heights (a three-hanky novel), and Anne Bronte’s first of only two novels is Agnes Grey. Those will give you a good start.

E. M. Forster. Another confession: I failed the AP English test with A Passage to India (in Mrs. Johnson’s class). However, I reread it recently and loved it. Forster, by the way, wrote a book on writing, Aspects of the Novel. A Room with a View is probably his most well-known work, thanks to the movie version with the gorgeous actors as well as the magnificent Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. He also wrote Where Angels Fear to Tread.

Joseph Conrad. Now here’s a real man’s man. It takes me a long time to get into his books, but once in, I enjoy them. I confess I’m not always that patient, and sometimes his books are relegated to bathroom reading. Here are three to start with: Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, and The Secret Agent. Among these three, I read the latter most recently; I even reread certain parts of it, as he’s a bit wordy and my mind wandered the first time around. The most amazing thing about Conrad is that he was not a native English speaker. Nevertheless, his prose is first rate.

Contemporary great literature

William Broderick. Broderick is my current favorite author. I’ve read three of his novels, all part of a series, and can’t wait to read more. His prose is outstanding and his plots complex. The first in the series is The Sixth Lamentation, and my favorite is The Day of the Lie. Broderick is a former Augustine friar who became a barrister, and the series’ central character is a former barrister who became a monk. The books combine history with mystery. They are incredibly human and the characters are brilliantly drawn.

Anna Quindlen. All of Quindlen’s novels are spectacular. Still Life with Bread Crumbs, which I’ve mentioned before, is her lightest; Black and Blue her most depressing. Her prose is simply brilliant. She is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times, and she has written as many non-fiction books as she has novels.

Sue Monk Kidd. Anything by Kidd is worth the read, but I especially liked The Secret Life of Bees, her first novel.

Specific books

Annie Proulx, The Shipping News. One of my five favorite novels of all time.

John Grisham, A Painted House. Grisham’s best. It isn’t one of his lawyer novels; this is the real deal. Serious and well-written; a good, solid novel.

Naguib Mahfouz, The Cairo Trilogy. Originally meant to be one gigantic novel, it was, thankfully, split into three separate books. As it was translated (beautifully) from the Arabic, I must give both the author and the translator kudos. The first, Palace Walk, is my favorite of the three.

Marcus Zusak, The Book Thief. Unusual in a good way. Amazing and original book and plot. An unconventional World War II story, narrated by an unlikely character.

Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I’ve written about this book as well. It’s not structured like a typical novel, and is very well done. Idiosyncratic in a good way. Great story. In some ways, it reminded me of a 9/11 version of The Book Thief.

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird. Can’t wait to read her prequel, Go Set a Watchman.

Kids and young adult books worth reading

These are a few of my favorite modern classics for the 12-16 crowd, but I’ve listed them so you can read them too:

Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved

Irene Hunt, Up a Road Slowly

Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows

Good trash

And I say that with love. The following are light but well-written novels, short stories, and non-fiction. None of them contain gratuitous sex or swear words that take away from the prose.

Alexander McCall Smith. Smith has three series, all of which are worthwhile to read. His most well-known is The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. His other two, the Isabelle Dalhousie series and the 44 Scotland Street series, are even better. And don’t miss La’s Orchestra Saves the World.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Conan Doyle wrote more than just Sherlock Holmes. His short stories reflect his interests in spiritualism, history, and science fiction. I especially enjoyed his historical fiction.

Anne Tyler. This talented writer (another Pulitzer winner) has produced almost twenty novels. Her characters are quirky in a good way, and she has been recognized for coming up with the most interesting professions for her characters. Close your eyes and pick one.

Helen Hanff. The late, great Helen Hanff rose to fame for her autobiography-in-letters, 84, Charing Cross Road. These were followed by The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, Q’s Legacy, and Underfoot in Show Business. All of them focus on different periods in Hanff’s life, and they are all a joy to read. A thread of melancholy runs through all her books, as she never really made it as a top-tier writer, though certainly not for lack of talent.

Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I loved this book. You will not be disappointed. It’s just so good.

Tracy Chevalier, The Virgin Blue. Super well written. I didn’t like her Girl with a Pearl Earring, but this one’s a winner. I’m planning on reading her other novels, as historical fiction is my favorite genre.

There you have it; Deena’s list. Now I have a request: Please let me know in the comments what your favorite books are – I’m always interested in expanding my list, and I’m sure other readers are as well.

Reader Interactions

Comments

The Times had a good article about it when it was published. The main issue is that Harper Lee did not publish the book, and once she went senile here caretaker published it. So, we don’t know if the author would approve.

The Time-Traveler’s Wife
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Pride and Prejudice (and pretty much anything Austen except Mansfield Park)
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
The Wee Free People (or possibly one of the sequels)
Peony in Love
The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance
Jeeves and Wooster story collections
The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963

I used to love EM Forster novels, like LOOOOVE them, but I reread them and found that A Passage to India is the only one I really care for much anymore. Quindlen’s Black and Blue is excellent and so are One True Thing and Blessings. I’m rather fond of the earlier Alexander McCall Smith books, but as he started cranking them out, the quality seems to have diminished.

Thanks for your list, Rebecca. I’m going to add some of your books to my list! It’s really interesting that you didn’t like Mansfield Park. And as much as I love McCall Smith, I need several months between his books because they can get to be too much to read all at once.
I’m so glad you wrote in.
All the best,
Deena

Thanks so much for writing, Andrea! And thank you for your two Dickens recommendations. I can’t wait to read Geraldine Brooks, now that you mentioned her. I appreciate your adding to the conversation.
All the best,
Deena

We clearly have very different tastes. But do try The Human Comedy by Wm. Saroyan, and Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth. Willa Cather’s One of Us (or almost anything else she wrote), and here’s one that won’t speak to many people but that I love – Giants in the Earth by Rolvaag. Shakespeare’s dramas and tragedies and histories, esp. The Tempest and Julius Caesar, Hamlet and Macbeth.
Harry Potter has a weak magic system, but there’s a lot of brilliance in the writing, and some fantastic human insights. My favorite single part was when the female heroine explains to the guys what another female was feeling – guilty and elated and depressed and worried and conflicted, and one of the guys says, “One person can’t feel all that at once, they’d explode.” To which the heroine replies, “Just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have.”
Anyhow, thanks for the list of clean modern good books. My son likes to read to his wife – he’s trying to get her excited about books, and sharing a passion is a great way to spend time together – but because he’s largely a fantasy guy and she’s more of a realist, he sometimes has trouble finding books she’ll like. Your list should keep all of us happily engrossed for a long time.

Hi, Esther, and thank you so much for your recommendations. The Good Earth is a total classic, and I enjoyed it very much — although I wanted to slap the main character for the way he treated his wife. I loved how Buck didn’t judge, just reported.
I was going to add J.K. Rowling to the list, but decided against it at the last minute. I totally agree with you that her writing is brilliant — she’s very highly educated and that’s apparent in her every word. I am looking forward to reading her adult novels.
Thanks for your contributions.
Deena

thanks for reminding me how good William Broderick is, I hadn’t realised he’d written so many more. I’d read and thoroughly enjoyed the first three but stopped there – now I’ve popped #4 on my kindle.
My favourite books probably aren’t great literature but I think they are great stories. In the kids/teens category I’d recommend Garth Nix’s Sabriel/Lireal/Abhorsen trilogy, pretty much anything by Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Cornelia Funke. In sci fi I always point people to Mary Doria Russell’s pair of books about a first contact situation – The Sparrow and Children of God. Thoughtful, compassionate and thought-provoking as well as tense and dramatic.
Historical novels – I love Valerie Anand, Rosemary Sutcliffe (who also fits into the kids/teen bit), Colleen McCullough’s Rome series and would also recommend the Cursed Kings series by Maurice Druon if you can get hold of the translations. I think they are out of print, sadly.
I could go on with a list as long as your arm…!

Amber, thank you for writing in. You have given us some great ideas for books to read. And such variety! I really appreciate your taking the time to comment. Since I’m not a science fiction fan, I’m glad you gave us some recommendations in that genre.
Best,
Deena

The Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. The Caine Mutiny was one of the first “big people” books my mom handed me, mainly to keep me busy and out of her hair, when I was about ten years old. It still looms large in my mind.
I read Marjorie Morningstar by Wouk when I was just a girl and I wanted to be Marjorie. But then, I also wanted to be Scarlett O’Hara on Monday, Wed, and Friday. On the other days I wanted to be Melanie Wilkes. Such a conundrum.

In the Garden of Beasts – Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin, by Erik Larson. Brilliant!

Dean Koontz hit it out of the park with “The City.”

Empire Falls by Richard Russo. In my opinion, such as it is, I think Russo is such a magnificent writer, that it actually becomes distracting. I find myself often stopping to reread a sentence or paragraph that is so stunning it drags me away from the story.

John Irving’s “The World According to Garp” was wonderful. Sadly, none of his other books were too great.

I recognize that the Maisie Dobbs series, by Jacqueline Winspear, would probably not be considered “fine literature”, but I was hooked on Maisie from the first book and read all thirteen as fast as I could lay my hands on them. I found Maisie to be calming and, yes, I wanted to be Maisie, too.

For inspiration, you can’t get much better than The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. A classic.

Even though you’re not writing fiction in these columns, reading anything you have to write is a delight. Your warmth and proficiency leap off the “page.”

Hi, Adrienne, and thank you so much for your comment and for your lovely compliment! I’m thrilled you are enjoying the blog.
It’s funny; I haven’t been able to get into Wouk, except for “Inside, Outside,” admittedly not one of his epic sagas.
I’m going to put “In the Garden of Beasts” on my Amazon wish list, as well as “Empire Falls” and “The City.” Thanks for the ideas.
I also loved “Garp” — I thought about putting it on the list, as a matter of fact. I’m glad you mentioned it. And for some “good trash,” I think I’ll try your Maisie Dobbs series!
I’m sure the rest of our readers are very pleased to get your list — thanks.
Deena

In terms of the prequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” you should know that it is not such a simple matter. It is not clear if it is a sequel (not a prequel) or if it was an earlier draft of “TKAM” that she modified and therefore never published. In particular, it is not clear whether her portrayal of Atticus in the newer book represents how she wanted his character developed.

Hi, I’m Deena Nataf

I’m a book and journal editor with thirty years of experience in the field. If you write to publish, I want to help you get that first draft written, that manuscript finished, and that book out the door. If you write for yourself, I’ll give you the tools you need to write clearly, write regularly, and write in your own voice. But no matter why you write, I’m passionate about helping you make your mark on the world.